Rafting Beartrap Canyon in Ennis, Montana

The Madison River through Beartrap Canyon, is a remote section of the Lee Metcalf Wilderness in southwestern Montana. Known for its Class IV+ rapids and rugged landscape, Beartrap Canyon offers a challenging and scenic whitewater experience through a remote gorge.
This was our personal first descent of this stretch and will go down as one of the best river trips we've ever been on. The scenery inside of this gorge is unmatched, with many large rockfaces and tall mountain peaks. Shortly after putting on at the powerhouse, we approached the first rapid of the run "Whitehorse rapid". This rapid is quite long, but rather easy to navigate. Start in the center of the river and work your way through the class III boogie water. Throughout this run, we noticed many sieves and undercuts, so be aware of the rocks. Following Whitehorse rapid is the crux of the run, Kitchen Sink. This powerful and technical class IV/V rapid takes you through a series of ledges and must-make moves. Similar to Whitehorse, Kitchen Sink is also a rather long rapid. Due to how long this rapid is and all of the undercuts/sieves, a swim here doesn't look like a good time, so pick your line carefully and T-up to each drop. Stay away from river-left as it's littered with sieves and undercuts! Kitchen Sink is quite intimidating and loses a good bit of altitude from top to bottom, so enter this area of the river with caution and make sure to scout on river-right. Once you're through Kitchen Sink, you'll be greeted with Greenwave shortly downstream. This is a class III rapid that'll seem pretty easy after running Kitchen Sink. Stay in the flow, and stay off the rock in the middle of the river at the end of this rapid. After Greenwave, you'll have about 4-5 miles of flatwater until the takeout. Enjoy the scenery and bring a fishing pole for the world-class trout fishing. Beartrap Canyon is an extremely remote section of whitewater that makes evacuation extremely difficult, so plan accordingly. Cell service is limited and bring bear spray, they don't call it Beartrap Canyon for nothing!
1,270 CFS
#Whitewater #Rafting
Filmed in 4k60fps.
8/26/2024
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